Surgery Report, Part 1
***********
Queasy Alert: If not a CSI / NCIS viewer (or an ambulance chaser) the following may contain
too much information!
***********
Last Thursday, I saw the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Wyman. After taking x-rays and doing and exam on my hip we sat down together and discussed the situation. The hip definitely needs to be replaced and the sooner the better. Rather than replacing the entire artificial hip, the doctor believes that it is
possible to replace the lower ball joint portion, and maintain the current cup, and just replace the worn-out plastic liner. If that proves
not to be true, and the cup needs to be removed, it will require them to "chisel out" the cup from the attached bone.
Either way they end up going, Dr. Wyman feels the surgery is more serious and involves more complications than an initial hip replacement. Since the plastic liner in the cup has, over time, been worn away by movement; small pieces of debris have filtered down around the artificial hip causing the loss of some muscle around it, as well as loss of bone density. In addition, the turning movement of the lower ball joint has worn away a great deal of the side of the bone, and will, if left unattended, shatter the femur. Also, the bone has grown a new piece of bone across the center of the femur, which will need to be drilled through in order to replace the ball joint. If not done correctly, this could also cause the femur to shatter.
Because of these additional risks and complications, Dr. Wyman believes I should see a different orthopedic surgeon, a Dr. Arthur Ozolin, who is considered the best of his kind around. Dr. Ozolin has a great deal more experience with these "hip revisions" and knows all of the complications involved. Although Dr. Wyman said he would be willing to do the surgery if that is what I decide; but he felt that Dr. Ozolin might be a better way to go.
Dr. Wyman did tell me that with this surgery, I can expect a four to six day hospital stay, possibly a week in rehab, and then six to eight weeks of recovery. Dr. Wyman also said that although Dr. Ozolin might have a different time table, the surgery would probably be scheduled to be done in four to six weeks.
